Stage 16 will see the hardest of weeks on this years Tour. As if it hadn’t been hard enough snow is predicted over 2000m during the week and with the Galibier at 2700m it could be cold? Todays stage is climbing all day and with a climb up from gap at the end of the stage we will not be seeing the sprinters. It looks like Voecklers team will have to do the riding today as the sprinters will not be involved and with such efforts being bestowed on the team at the start of such a hard week it will be interesting to see how the team will survive the high mountains. 

Yesterday’s rest day will also play a vital role and it again as last week be interesting to see which riders have benefited from the rest. Some riders like to go for a 1.5 – 3hr recovery spin on the rest while others just lie around and rest. The general classement riders will all be doing a recovery spin and media duties. The recovery time will be used to catch up on hydration and dietary issues, massage sore and fatigued muscles and tend to injuries and open wounds such as cuts from falls and saddle sores. 

In this years tour the weather (13°C to 18°C today) has not been as hot as others which has reduced the need for liquid consumption a great deal but food consumption will still be the same. For most of this week riders will be using approx. 6000 daily and with the body so tired due to the stress of the first week this will prove to be critical. I would predict that we could see some riders bonking (also called the hunger knock)before the end of the week if the weather gets cold and wet as the forecast predicts.